By: Peter Dennis

IPNews-Monrovia: Opposition leaders in Liberia are predicting serious chaos ahead of the December 8 midterm senatorial elections, intended to fill 15 vacant senate seats.

The opposition leaders under the banner, Collaborating political parties say the electoral commission has proven unfit to conduct a free, fair and transparent election.

The collaborating political parties is a conglomeration of four major parties, the former ruling Unity party of former Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai, the Alternative National Congress of Alexander Benedict Cummings, the Liberty party of Nyonblee Karngah Lawrence and the All Liberian party of Benoni Wilfred Urey.

They say the electoral commission can no longer be trusted to conduct a free, fair and transparent election.
The CPP believes that the National Elections Commission alleged refusal to stop the ongoing massive voter’s trucking, and discourage multiple voters’ registrations by individuals had cast a dark cloud over NEC’s credibility to conduct the special senatorial elections void of rigging and chaos.

Alexander Cummings is the head of the four parties. He says a writ of prohibition against the entire voter’s roll exercise will be filed before the supreme court of Liberia on Friday, September 25, 2020.
Senator Nyonblee Karngar Lawrence, the political leader of the Liberty Party says the maintenance of Liberia’s fragile peace rests upon the conduct of a transparent election.

Meanwhile, the head of the elections commission Davidetta Browne Lassana says double registrants on the voters roll would be deleted and forwarded to the Justice Ministry for prosecution.

Despite the assurance, these political leaders maintain an injunction would be filed against the commission.
This is coming amid pre-election violence that has resulted in damage to properties and injuries and sparks fears about what lies ahead.

The Independent Probe Newspaper has further gathered that magistrates Luther Dean of Bomi, Arthur Z. Y. Duogee of Grand Gedeh and David Armah of Cape Mount counties are being investigated for comments or acts that are in contrast to their Term of Reference (TOR).

Dean had earlier confirmed that voters trucking was taking place in Bomi county, but failed to mention those involved in the process. Dean was reportedly quoted as saying that there was no law against voter trucking.
Armah on the other hand, is being accused of being involved in voter trucking on behalf of a politician who is a senatorial aspirant in the county.

There have also been allegations that staffs of NEC assigned in the county have moved into neighboring Sierra Leone to carry out the voter roll update process.
According to Madam Browne, trucking is “criminal” and prohibited under the New Elections Law of Liberia Chapter 10.1(a) adding that such act is punishable under the law by a fine or imprisonment of up to six months.

“While the NEC is not clothed with authority to impose criminal penalties, the Commission frowns on the trucking of citizens for political purpose, and calls on all involved in this practice to immediately desist,” she said.

“Let it be known that a person who is trucked to another area is also in violation of Chapter 3 of the New Elections Law, which states that a person must register to vote in the area where he or she ordinarily resides. If established, consistent with due process of law, that a person was trucked in this regard, his or her name will be removed from the voter roll and turned over to the Ministry of Justice for further action.